Constructing railroad cross ties of railroad rails



y AQDURAND.' CONSTRUGTING RAILROAD GROSS TIES 0I' RAILROAD RAILS.

No. 415,032. atgellted Nov. 12, 1889.

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A. DURAND. GONSTRUCTING RAILROAD GROSS TIBSOI' RAILROAD RAILS.

No. 415,032. Patented Nov. I2, 1889.

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UONSTRUTING RAILROAD CROSS TIES 0F RAILROAD RAILS. 110.415,032. Patented Nov. 12, 1889.

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A. DURAND. GONSTRUGTING RAILROAD GROSS TIES OIRAILROAD RAILS.

No. 415,032. Patented Nov.-l2, 1889.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARI'lt-IUR DURAND, OF VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE METALLIC RAIIVAY TIE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CONSTRUCTING RAILROAD CROSS-TIES F RAILROAD-RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 415,032, dated November 12, 1889.

Application filed May 13, 1889. Serial No. A310,490- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known tl'iatI, ARTHUR DURAND, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Vashington` in the District of` Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Converting Railroad- Rails into Cross-Ties; and l dov hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and ,exact description of the invention, such as will enable othio ers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain novel mechanism for converting old railroad-rails into metallic cross-ties, the object of my invention being, by a continuous and connected operation, to reroll old railroad-rails in a direction transverse their length into plates or sheets of metal of the requisite length, width, and thickness, and by compression between dies 2o carried by a press connected with the roll-operating mechanism form said plates into completed cross-ties.

Brieliy, the main features of the mechanism employed by me for the purposes above named and lthe method of procedure may be stated to be as follows: The rail to be rerolled into aplate or sheet for subsequent conversionv into a cross-tie is, by means of an endless belt or chain having roller carriages 3o thereon of a form to adapt them to receive the rail, presented endwise to a pair of grippingjaws at one end of the machine, and is by them, in conjunction with the combined urg- -ing forward of the rail-carrier, presented to 3 5 and placed upon a table in front of the machine parallel longitudinally with a pair of rolls, the tread of the rail being presented to the said rolls, a slide reciprocated to and from said rolls by suitable mechanism impinging 4o against the flange of the rail to continuously present and urge the rail to the first pair of rolls, suitable devices being provided by which the flange in the forward movement of the rail is bent over outwardly. The railis then in a sidewise direction-that is, in a direction transverse to its length-by the combined operation of thebefore-inentioned slide and the outer pair of rolls carried between said rolls, whereby the tread is attened out to a cer- 5o tain extent and the two portions of the liange pressed down upon each other. The rail is then drawn forward -by the first pair of rolls to a second adjacent pair of rolls, by which the rolling of the tread and ange of the rail is continued until the entire sheet or plate is 5 5 formed of a t-hickness uniform with the thickness of the web of the rail originally. Vhen this has been accomplished, the plate or sheet is discharged by the second pair of rolls onto an incline or table, which presents it to a 6o slide, which is reciprocated longitudinally of the machine by suitable mechanism, and which carries the plate to a pair of rolls at the rear ofthe machine and at the end 4thereof opposite to that at which the old rail entered the machine. These last-named rolls further roll the plate to the desired width and thickness, if any further manipulation thereof is desired, this depending upon the peculiar character and weight of the tie it is de- 7o sired to form, and then present the plate to 'the press, wherein the plate is stamped between dies into the form of a cross-tie, or said last-named rolls at the end of the machine may be so constructed and employed as to simply feed and present the blank or plate to the cross-tie-forming dies. e

I-Ieretofore railroad-rails have in the formation therefrom of plates or blanks for reuse invariably been presented endwise to the rolls 8o 4for rolling out said rails into sheet form and the rails passed from end to end between such rolls and rolled end wise, by which operation the tread, flange, and web, respectively, are each rolled, resulting in making the plate S5 toothin, too long, and too narrowfor use in the manufacture of ties with ragged and uneven ends and edges, necessitating the trimming of the sheet and consequent waste of material and diminishment of t-he size of the 9o plate.v

One of the objects of my present invention is to overcome these defects.

The invention, moreover, secures further advantages in the production of plates of uniform shape and size throughout their length and in the production, in a simple and .expeditious manner,withoutany waste of material whatever, of cross-ties, all of which will hereinafter more fully appear. too

l will now proceed to specifically describe my present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 rcpresentsafront elevation, partly in section, of my present machine for converting railroad-rails into at sheets of metal, portions of the devices for carrying and presenting the rails to the reducing-rolls and of the stamp for forming the cross-tie being shown in commotion with this figure at the respective ends thereof, this figure representing as completely as the authorized size of the sheet of drawings will permit a front view of the complete device. Fig. 2 represents a top plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents an end elevation of the rollin gmaehine,viewed in the direction of the arrow (t on Fig'. 1. Fig. 4 represents a vertical transverse section taken on the line ZJ l) of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow c thereon. Fig. 5 represents a front elevation, partly in section, of the drop-hammer or stalnp by which the plates are stamped to form railroad cross-ties. Fig. (l represents a vertical transverse section taken on the line (l dof Fig. 5. Fig. repre-` sents detail sectional views of a portion of the dies carried by the drop-hannner or stamping-press. Fig. 8 represents a detail per spective view of a portion of the rail-earrier and presenter. Figs. 9, 10, and 11 represent detail portions of a plate or sheet in its suc4 cessivc stages of formation, Fig. S) representing the appearance of the partly-formed plate as it comes from the first operating pair of compression or reducing-rolls, Fig. 10 representing the appearance of said plate on its discharge from the second pair of compression-rolls, and Fig. 11 the appearance of the plate when completely rolled and in readiness for being stamped between the dies of the drop-hammer to form the tie. Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate in perspective two forms of railroad-ties produced by my delineated stamping press or hammer.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 represents the framing or supports for the preliminary rolling inechanism. The rail to be rerolled for conversion int-o aplate islaid lengthwise upon a series of carriages 2, jointedly connected together and of a shape interiorly to conform to the shape of the roll. These carriages are mounted upon rollers 3, and when in their upper position travel along a shelf or way 1, said shelf or way extending inward toward the feeding' end of the machine a distance sufficient to insure the rail being fed to the toothed jaws 5, which grip the rail in its passage to the presenting table and slide,to be presently described. The continued rotation toward the rollingmachine of the traveling carriages, which, except that they are adapted in their formation to afford a rest for and of a shape conformable to the rail, are of the nature of a traveling chain, forces the rail onto the presenting-table at the front of the machine.

7 representsa flanged roller jourualed upon a transverse shaft 8, which is connected by bevel-gearing, as shown, with the rolling and converting rolls, to be presently described. rlhis flanged roller serves to guide the end less chain of carriages inits revolution. The rail having been pushed onto the receiving and presenting tabie 6 in the position reprc sented in Fig. 4-that is, longitudinally parallel with the reducing-rolls and with its flange abutting, respectively, against a bevel or incline 9,formed in the table, and with an angular strip 10-the operator, by means of a lever 11 or other suitable device opens a 'valve in a steam-supply pipe 12, whereupon steam is admitted to the steam-chest 13, to cause the propulsion of the piston therein. To the outer end of this piston is connected a slide 14, guided in its reciprocal movements by a lug or pin thereon, and. a slotted armgl, extending forwardly of the steam-chest, as shown in Fig. L1. The admission of steam to the steam-chest causes the projection ofthe piston, which in its turn pushes the slide lflforward and causes the latter to press againstthe flange of the rail and force the latter against the bevel fl of the table and the angular bar 1.0, whereby each member of said fiange is bent rearwardly toward each other. As soon as this has been accomplished, and automatically, an increased propulsive move ment is imparted to the slide, which results in said slide pushing the tread of the rail` between the rfirst p air of compressing and reducing rolls 1.5 and 1G, which then draw the rail, which, it must be remembered, is presented to and by them rolled in a sidewise direction, as contradistinguished from the endwise rolling as heretofore practiced, between them, and will partly flatten the tread and the iiange, as indicated in Fig. f) of the drawings. The now partially-rolled rail then passes to the second pair of compressing and reducing rolls 17 and 18, by which it is rolled into the plate form shown in Fig. 10. Upon the completion of this second roll ing lthe plate is automatically discharged by the continued rotation of the rolls 17 and 18 upon a hinged table 19, which, by the weight of superimposed plate, drops and deposits said plate upon a slide 20, which is reciprocated by any suitable mechanism*such, for instance, as by a plunger and rod connected with steam-power, as indicated-to present the plate shown in Fig 10 endwise to a pair of further-reducing rolls 2l at the delivery end of the machine, by which rolls the sheet is reduced in thickness and its width and length increased to the desired decree. The plate in its final form before conversion into a cross-tie is shown in Fig. 11. As the now formed sheet passes from said rolls 2l it is presented to and deposited upon the lower die of the tie-forming press or drop-hammer, which will be presently described.

lhc several series of rollers are connected together by gearingof anyknown o r approved construction-such, for instance, as that rep- TOO IIO

resented in the drawings, though any other method may be employed whereby a unitary and connective rotation of the rolls may be secured and the parts already described operate successively as described.

rlhe tilting table 19`is returned to its position to receive another plate by a weight 22, connected by a rope or chain 23 to an arm 24, depending from said table, said rope or chain 23 passing over a roller orpulley25, journaled in the framing.

26 represents a stop for limiting the downward movement of the table.

27 represents blocks which may be inserted within the machine at each end and between the rolls 15, 16, 17, and 18 when it is desired to reroll rails of less length than said rolls.

23 represents screws by which the distancev apart of each pair of rolls may be adjusted.

The press for stamping the sheets of metal produced by the above-mentioned mechanism into metallic cross-ties is composed of a bed 29, to which the lower die 30 is secured, upright 31, a plunger 32, carrying at its lower end the upper die 33, and connected at its upper end with a piston working in a steamchest 34, which latter is mounted between the uprights 3l and connectedby a suitable supply-pipe with the main source of steam-supply, rollers 35 being journaled in said upright to guide the upper die in its reciprocal movements and lessen the friction thereof in use.

ln the accompanying drawings, Fig. 5, I

have represented the dies of a form to adapthem to stamp cross-ties of peculiar construct tion invented by myself, and the subject of lanother application for patent filed of even date herewith, two of such forms of ties being represented in Figs. 12 and 13. These dies, however, are removable and can readily be replaced by others of somewhat different construction in order that Where desired ties differing in form, or other sheet-metal articles, may be stamped thereby, it being evident that my complete mechanism can be employed for reducing old railroad-rails to sheet form and stamping such sheets into other articles than cross-ties by simply substituting for the dies shown in the drawings accompanying this specification dies appropriately shaped for the purpose to which they are to be employed. y

The respective dies, in the form shown in the drawings, are provided with removable blocks 36, in order to permit of their ready removal and the substitution of differentlyshaped corresponding portions ot` the dies without necessitating an entire change of the dies when ties slightly modified in construction are to be produced. These removable y blocks in the upper die and the upper die itself are connected to the armed plunger 32 by slotted pins or punches 37 a, with which pins or studs 3S, projecting from theupper die, engage, the object of which is to permit of slight independent vertical play between the plunger 32 and the Lipper die, the object of which freedom of independent movement being to permit the upper die to drop as the hammer or plunger rises, and thereby release the tie from'the upper die.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the press, or, as it may be termed by. some, the drophammer, is shown with a metal plate between the dies in readiness for being stamped and into a cross-tie of graduated zores form, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, the plunger and upper die being raised. The lower die 30, it will be observed, is formed with a circumferential groove 39 and vertical side walls'40, extending angularly toward the center, while the upper die has a rim circumference'4l, adapted to fit the angular and grooved portions 39 and 40 of the lower die. Consequently, upon said dies being brought into operative juxtaposition, with a vplate 42 between them, the surrounding fl( nge 43 will be formed thereon, depressions 44 and swells 45 being formed on the lower and `upper dies, respectively, to

. produce curved lips 46 on the die, whereby,

in conjunction with the graduated zors form of the tie, any moisture that may aocumulate upon the tie will travel to and be shed from said lips 46, thereby relieving the tie from superincumbent water and materially preserving the lips of the die, as the rushing thereof is prevented. The rail-gripping lips 47 are raised from the metal of the sheet by the projections 43 on the lower die and the recesses 49 in the upper die, punches 37 forming the lioles 50, through which any suitable rail-securing devices, as spikes, may be passed. A hole 51 is formed near each end of the cross-tie by the punches 37, for

the reception of a croW-barorotherimplem en t, by which the track-hands, one at each end, may move said tie back and forth longitudinally on the road-bed to secure it in position therein. The respective dies have curved or undulatory meeting faces, so as to form the tie of graduated zores form centrally, and outwardly-curved portions and wider ends, as shown, grooves or corrugations 52 being formed in the upper face and in any other desired portion of the tie-as, for instance, in the side walls-by the ribs 53 on the dies, for the purpose of strengthening the tie at those portions which are subjected to the greatest strain. Channels 54 are formed in the lower die, through which the punched-out pieces of metal pass to the recesses 55, from which such pieces can be readily removed as desired.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the entire rail and plate presenting and feeding by simple devices are connected together by simple mechanism, insuring the automatic operation in unison without any hand manipulation on the part of t-he attendant except that required to open or close the TOO IIO

Upon a rail being placed upon said carriages or conveyer and the steam-supply turned on, the conveyer 2 travels forward toward the rolling mechanism, pushing the rail onto the receiving-table. The slide 14 then pushes the rail sidewise toward the rolls 15 and 16, which, as before explained, partly roll the rail and then presentit to the next pair of` rolls 17 and 18 for further rolling into plate form, which, having been accomplished, said rolls by their rotation discharge said plate upon the tilting table 19,which then drops down and presents the plate to the slide 20, which latter then slides forward and presents one end of said plate to the rolls 2l, by which it is gripped and drawn forward between them, and by which .said plate is further rerolled to the requisite thickness and length, according to the length and weight it is desired that the completed tie shall possess, the rolls 21 being adjusted farther apart or closer together, as it is desired to regulate the thickness and length to which the plate shall be finally rolled, by the screws 28. The plate is then by said rolls 2l. presented to the grippingjaws 56, by which it is gripped,said jaws being connected to a crank-arm 57, fulcrumed at its lower end to a bracket 5S, exten ding to a short arm 59, attached to bevel gear-wheel 60, which meshes with a bevelgear 61 on the shaft of the roll 17. By this arrangement it will be apparent that the combined rotation of thevroll 17 revolves the bevel-toothed wheel 60, which in its turn rocks the crank 57 and 5f), which latter reciprocates the toothed jaws 56, carried thereby, thereby feeding the plate to the die-press. A similar arrangement is employed for gripping the rail as it is presented to the machine by the revolving carriages or rail-conveyer 2, the gripping-j aws 5 in this case being secured to a crank-arm 63, connect-ed at its upper end to a bevel-gear 64.4, gearing with another bevel-gear 65 on the shaft or journal of the roll 16. When the plate is thus gripped by the jaws 56, it is by their reciprocating movements placed upon the lower die, whereupon the plunger and upper die are by any suitable lnechanism depressed and the tie stamped into the form desired, upon which the tie is removed from the press.

Inasmuch as the operation of the several parts is continuous and rapid, it will at once be apparent that as soon as a rail has passed between the rolls 15 and 16 and the slide 14 retracted another rail may be presented to said'table 6 and by the slide 14 pushed toward the said rolls 15 and 16, as by or before the time the flange of the second rail has been bent the first rail will have passed beyond the first pair of rolls 15 and 16. Thus a continuous succession of rails may be presented to the machine without cessation or breaks. So long as the machine is running each portion-viz., the revolving-carriage slide 11i, rolls 15, 16, 17, 1S, and 21, and the die-presswmay each be operating upon a rail or plate in one or the other of its successive stages.

Although l have, for convenience and in order to indicate one mode of accomplishing the result sought, shown the mechanism-starting and power-continuing device as consisting of steam-supply pipes operating pistons connected with the several parts to be actuated thereby, I do not confine myself' to such arrangement as is here shown, as any other suitable mechanism may be employed for accomplishingthc automatic operation of the several parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The improvement in the art of rerolling `railroad-rails and converting the same into flat plates herein described, consisting in presenting the rails sidewise or longitudinally to a series of reducing-rolls, whereby the tread or iiangc of the rail is reduced and flattened outwardly from the web of the rail.

2. The improvement in the art of rerolling railroad-rails and converting the same into flat plates herein described, consisting in subj ecting the tread and flange of said rail to a sidewise rolling between a pair of rolls revolving transversely across the rail, whereby the tread and fiange are partially flattened outwardly from the web of the rail,then subj ecting said partially fiattened tread and flange to a further sidewise or transverse rolling operation between another pair of rolls, whereby the tread and fiange are flattened out to a thickness corresponding with the thickness of t-he web, and finally rolling said plate in a longitudinal direction between another pair of rolls to bring the plate to the desired length, width, and thickness.

3. A machine for converting railroad-rails into fiat plates, consisting of a series of rolls revolving transversely across the tread and flange of the rail for the purpose of reducing said tread or fiange to a thickness lsubstantially corresponding with the thickness of the web of the rail, rolls adapted to reroll said plate for the purpose of lengthening and thinning the same, and devices, as carriers, for presenting the rail to the first operating-rolls, and slides for forcing the rail and nplate. into engagement with the reducing-rolls.

4. An apparatus for rerolling and convcrtin g railroad-rails into fiat plates, consisting of a rail-eonveyer adapted to place the rail sidewise parallel with the reducingrolls, a slide adapted to present said rail sidewise to the reducing-roll, a series of reducing-rolls adapted to fiatten t-he tread and flange of the rail outwardly from the web thereof and reduce the rail to plate form, a table adapted to receive said plate and discharge the same 4upon a reciprocating slide, rolls for rerolling said plate longitudinally, and a power-operated slide adapted to present said plate to said longitudinally-rolling rolls.

5. An organized machine for rerolling and IOO IIO

converting railroad-rails into flat sheets and forming such sheets into railroad cross-ties or other articles, comprising a rail-eonveyer for presenting the rail sidewise to longitudinally and parallel with the rail-redo cing rolls, a slide adapted to present said rail to the reducing-rolls, a series of rolls for rolling said rail transversely of its length into plate form,

'a slide adapted to receive said plate and feed the same to a plurality of rolls for-rolling said plate lengthwise, rolls for rolling said plate lengthwise, gearing conneotingthe entire series of rolls and rail and plate conveyers to insure the operation thereof in unison, a die-press connected with the power-transmitting mechanism operating the rolls and rail and plate-feeders, and a plate-conveyer carried by said die-press and connected with the roller-gearing.

6. A die-press for stamping outy sheetmetal cross-ties, consisting of a lower die havingl a ribbed curved undulatory upper face and a graduated curved circumferential portion having depressions therein, an upper die of obverse contour t-o that of the lower die, a reciprocating armed plunger' secured to said upper die and having pistonconnection `with a steam-supply, and slotted punches secured at their upper ends to the plunger-arms and having slot-and-pin con-- neotion with the upper die, whereby independent vertioal movement between the upper die and piston is permitted.

7. A die-press for forming sheet-metal cross-ties, consisting of a frame, a lower die having a series of slotted lugs or projections to form rail-clips, ribs to form corrugations in the tie, and a curved -or undulatory contour of substantially graduated zores form, an upper die of obverse form to that ofthe lower die, a plunger having outwardly-extending arms, slotted punches con! necting said plunger and upper die to permit of vertical play between the same, guiding and anti-friction rollers j ournaled in the press-frame7 over which the upper die travels, and power mechanism for actuating the plunger and upper die.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' ARTHUR DURAND.

Vitnesses':

CHAs. J. GoooH, Louis C. MILLIGAN. 

